ESTONIA

Tallinn City Councillor and Entertainer Wears “I Hate Gays” T-shirt on Stage

 
 

 

  


 

TALLINN, January 15, 2006  –  Tarmo Kruusimägi, a member of the Tallinn City Council’s Committee on Consumers’ Rights and Protection of Children, who’s artistic nickname is ‘Street Cleaner’ has appeared on a stage in a t-shirt with wording “I hate gays”, Delfi.ee reports.

He has had the t-shirt for couple of years, he said.

Commenting on the wording, he said there should be a balance in any sphere. If many people wear t-shirts in rainbow colours and express or advertise their tolerant attitude towards their ‘hobby’, he believes he has a right to express his position.

Answering a question whether member of a city council will have problems fuelling hatred, Kruusimägi said that on a stage he is just an actor.

He said he has other t-shirts from previous years where he states he does not like communism.

The entertainer said it would be over the top if someone complained to the court or banned him from performance because he wore such t-shirt.  “That would be quite an advertisement,” he said.

Kruusimägi went on to say that it would be amusing if “pederast-activists started pointing out what t-shirt I should wear on a stage, how many rings I should have in my ear or in my nose, or what lyrics I should have in my songs”.

At the same time he refused to call himself a homophobe – he said he does not fear homosexuals and he even have friends who know about his attitudes but do not discuss this subject with him.

ESTONIA: SEE ALSO

Homophobic Conservative Outburst Calls for Criminalisation of Gays.  In an amazing homophobic outburst, the Estonian Convervatives Club and its leader Martin Helme have published a statement today which has shocked the country’s gays. (UK Gay News, January 13, 2006)

First Test of Tolerance and Common European Values in Estonia for Gays.  Days before Christmas, the Ministry of Social Affairs in Estonia called for a public debate on same-sex relationships.  In many ways, it was a ‘seasonal gift’ to the country’s gay community – but it turned out to be short-lived as Estonia could be heading in the same direction as their Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania. (UK Gay News, January 10, 2006)

■  Homophobia is the first item on the agenda of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg which starts on Monday (January 16) at 4pm (UK time) - 5pm Central European Time or 11am Eastern Standard Time in USA.  Streaming video coverage is available on the internet on the Parliament's web site. Select your European language and then the "EP LIVE" tab towards the top of the resulting page.  Any vote on the issues debated throughout the plenary session will be taken at 11am UK (12noon CET; 6am EST USA) on Thursday January 19.

LINKS

Delfi.ee website (in Estonian language only)

 
 

Recent Articles
(please go to Archive main page
for full archive search)

January 15: 
UK:  Report Slams Delivery of Sexual Health to Gays and ‘Straights’ in England.  A hard-hitting report launched yesterday by sexual health charities shows an alarming lack of local National Health Service (NHS) planning to improve sexual health in England, despite considerable central Government funding being made available to do so.

January 14: 
Homophobia in the European Union: GALHA Welcomes Its VP’s Fight in Euro Parliament.  The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has today warmly welcomed the lead taken by its energetic vice-president, Michael Cashman, in fighting the Catholic-inspired homophobia in Eastern European countries. (UK Gay News, January 14, 2006)

January 13: 
UK/European Union:  Cashman Demands Urgent Action on Plight of Gays in Some EU States.  Labour MEP Michael Cashman (UK, West Midlands) has today expressed his “grave concern” about increasing homophobia in Europe.

Estonia:  Homophobic Conservative Outburst Calls for Criminalisation of Gays.  In an amazing homophobic outburst, the Estonian Convervatives Club and its leader Martin Helme have published a statement today which has shocked the country’s gays.

January 11: 
UK:  Major Fires Guts Gay Sauna in Manchester.  A gay men’s sauna was gutted in a major fire in Fourways House, city centre, last night.  The fire broke out at the Basement Health Club just after midnight and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service sent “14 pumps and about 70 firefighters” to the blaze.

January 10: 
Estonia:  First Test of Tolerance and Common European Values in Estonia for Gays.  Days before Christmas, the Ministry of Social Affairs in Estonia called for a public debate on same-sex relationships.  In many ways, it was a ‘seasonal gift’ to the country’s gay community – but it turned out to be short-lived as Estonia could be heading in the same direction as their Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania.

UK:  Gay Cowboy Film’s Million Pound UK Opening.  Brokeback Mountain, the ‘gay cowboy romance’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, opened strongly in the United Kingdom last weekend.

 

 

Posted: 15 January 2006 at 22:30 (UK time)

 

 

 
ARCHIVE LATEST NEWS CONTACT EMAIL